Munich Re Foundation – 2017 carbon footprint

Total CO2 emissions In 2017, Munich Re Foundation's total CO2 emissions amounted to approximately 1,307 tonnes. As we compensate the emissions generated by all the delegates journeying to and from conferences, the Foundation's own events, with a total volume of just under 1,206 tonnes (92%), were responsible for most of this output. The emissions from office activities (electricity, heating) and business travel, at approximately 16.3 tonnes (1%) and 85 tonnes (7%) respectively, were low in comparison.

Fig. 1: Munich Re Foundation's total CO2 emissions in 2017

The Foundation's total CO2 emissions for 2017 were up on the previous year's figures by 198 tonnes. This is due to an increase in the emissions generated by business trips and also by the Foundation's events. In addition, we also used Munich Re's latest environmental statistics (from 2016) for this year's calculations. As a result, there is a difference between this year's and previous year's figures, especially looking at air journeys. The emissions generated by the office activities have decreased significantly according to the new MR statistics. Although the emissions generated by the 2017 Microinsurance Conference in Lima/Peru, with over 400 delegates, were slightly lower than from the 2016 conference in Sri Lanka, the high volume of emissions from events in 2017 was caused largely by the Resilience Academy. The Academy's grand final closing event this year took place in Washington D.C., which entailed longer flights for the participants.

The Foundation purchases emission certificates to offset the emissions caused by its events. CO2 emissions from business trips made by Foundation staff and generated by its offices activities are offset by Munich Re.*

Fig. 2: Comparison of total CO2 emissions in the 2007 – 2017 period in tonnes

CO2 emissions caused by events The journeys undertaken by all the delegates were taken into account to calculate the emissions from the events; the short-term occupancy of the function rooms used for the events is negligible. The International Microinsurance Conference in Lima/Peru emitted approximately 1,051 tonnes of CO2, which accounts for the largest proportion (87%) of event emissions. This is due to the numerous flights** undertaken by the over 400 delegates. The closing event of the Resilience Academy in Washington D.C., which was attended by young researchers from all over the world, accounted for emissions to the order of 152 tonnes CO2 (13 %). The Dialogue Forum events in Munich contributed only very slightly to this year's emissions. As expected, they amounted to 3.7 tonnes (<1%) and therefore accounted for only a small proportion of the total emissions, since the audience largely is from the greater Munich area.

Fig. 3: CO2 emissions from events

CO2 emissions from business operations The CO2 balance for business operations (offices and trips) is just under 101 tonnes: 16 tonnes of CO2 for the offices (electricity and heat)* and 85 tonnes of CO2 for business trips. Due to the increased number of flights**, which accounted for 99.6% of these emissions, the footprint for the business trips, at approximately 43 tonnes CO2, is larger than in the preceding year. This rise is also partially due to the new calculation basis.

Fig. 4: CO2 emissions from the business operations

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* Emissions produced by the Foundation's offices were based on a figure of 2.8 tonnes CO2 per employee (FTE). This is the result of the Munich Re Corporate Responsibility Report for 2016.

** An RFI (Radiative Forcing Index) factor of 3 was applied to air travel. The transfer distance to and from airports for each journey by plane was taken to be 100 km, for train journeys, a distance of 50 km was taken for transfer to and from the station.